This interview of Hamed Sadeghian, NFI President and CTO, by Alexander Pil was published in February issue of Mechatronica & Machinebouw exploring the success story of NFI first Quadra shipment.
Rotterdam, The Netherlands – Today Nearfield Instruments B.V. announced the first shipment of QUADRA, the first-generation High-Throughput Scanning Probe Metrology system for 5 nm nodes and beyond. The first QUADRA has shipped to a non-disclosed customer and it demonstrated successful multi-head operation, measuring dense structures with high aspect-ratios on advanced DRAM and Logic device wafers.
QUADRA’s unique architecture features parallel independent multi-head operation and the ability to position and align extremely fast and accurate. This gives QUADRA a 100-fold throughput advantage over other automated single-probe AFM metrology tools targeted for in-line metrology applications. QUADRA’s high sampling rate enables customers to perform in-line process monitoring and determine lot-to-lot, wafer-to-wafer, and intra-wafer process variations.
QUADRA also includes a new unique imaging mode called Feed-Forward Trajectory Planner TM (FFTP). These allow QUADRA to perform on-device, non-destructive measurements on dense structures with high aspect-ratios for both memory (1z and beyond) and logic devices (3 nm and beyond).
Nearfield Instruments plans to increase the number of scanning heads and expand its 3D imaging capabilities for future product generations to stay aligned with chipmakers’ ever evolving product roadmap requirements.
Sadeghian adds: “I would like to thank all our employees who made this first shipment possible, with their hard work and commitment. Also, I want to thank all our development partners and suppliers who helped us during our journey. Finally, the support and commitment of our shareholders was of key importance. They provided us with the right expertise and helped us to create momentum, and make this great milestone happen. “
Nearfield Instruments B.V. (NFI), was founded in January 2016. NFI is a semiconductor metrology equipment company developing and delivering ground-breaking process control metrology solutions for the worldwide advanced semiconductor IC manufacturing industry.
QUADRA, the first product of NFI, is a High-Throughput Scanning Probe Metrology system (HT-SPM) that enables an entirely new approach to in-line 3D process control metrology. QUADRA provides unique, Ångstrom level precise and non-destructive high aspect-ratio 3D metrology on even the most challenging critical layers, such as Gate and FinFET structures.
Nearfield Instruments is head-quartered in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Nearfield Instruments (NFI) and VHE Industrial automation (VHE) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a strategic partnership for development, delivery and value engineering of Electronics cabinet and related cablings for NFI’s series products, mainly the QUADRA product line. VHE will develop, industrialize, and deliver these modules, with a focus on improving manufacturability, value engineering, SEMI compliancy and performance enhancement, closely related to NFI’s product roadmap. The partnership has a spirit of transparency, accountability and reciprocity and aims for long term cooperation.
NFI has developed and realized its first semiconductor metrology product, named QUADRA, based on the revolutionary mechatronics architecture of HT-SPM. Now, NFI is preparing for series production. NFI intends to work with VHE in a strategic partnership to further industrialize and value engineer the assigned product’s sub-systems.
Hamed Sadeghian, President and Chief Technology Officer of Nearfield Instruments commented: “VHE’s technical expertise helps to enable our series production development, allowing Nearfield to focus on the core of its products, being complex mechatronics systems development and metrology applications. Today’s MoU signing is the next step in collaboration with VHE, which has started about two years ago.”
Joop Essing, Managing Director of VHE Industrial automation commented: “VHE has the ambition to enter into long lasting, transparent partnerships with innovative, high-tech customers and help them become more successful in their markets. NFI is an excellent example of such a company. With great ambition and passionate people, they push VHE to the next level. Working with Nearfield Instruments is a pleasure. The fact that NFI has chosen VHE as one of their strategic partners makes us proud.”
Nearfield Instruments B.V. (NFI), was founded in January 2016 as a spin-off of TNO. NFI is a semiconductor metrology equipment company developing and delivering ground-breaking process control metrology solutions for the worldwide advanced semiconductor IC manufacturing industry.
QUADRA, the first product of NFI, is a high throughput Scanning Probe Metrology system (HT-SPM) that enables an entirely new approach to in-line 3D process control metrology for both wafer fab Process Window Discovery as well as Process Window Expansion & Control. QUADRA provides unique, angstrom level precise, non-destructive high-aspect ratio 3D metrology on even the most challenging critical layers, such as Gate and FinFET structures.
VHE was founded 63 years ago and is the preferred choice of innovative OEMs in semicon and other markets to help them develop and industrialize their products. VHE designs, develops, produces and services industrial automation and control systems for high mix/low volume markets, leading to the lowest Total Cost of Ownership in the shortest time.
Nearfield Instruments (NFI) and Technolution Advance (TNL) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a strategic partnership for delivery and value engineering of several critical electronics modules for NFI’s series products, starting with the QUADRA product line. TNL will develop, industrialize, and deliver these modules, with a focus on improving manufacturability, value engineering, SEMI compliancy and performance enhancement, closely related to NFI’s product roadmap.
NFI has developed and realized its first semiconductor metrology product, named QUADRA, based on the revolutionary mechatronics architecture of HT-SPM. Now, NFI is preparing for series production. NFI intends to work with TNL in a strategic partnership to further industrialize and value engineer some of its product’s sub-systems.
“In our strive to deliver our disruptive solutions to the complex process control challenges the semiconductor manufacturing industry encounters in its continuous strive towards even more powerful and lower power-consuming electronics, the role of strategic development partners, such as Technolution, is important. The development of our highly complex mechatronics systems requires a continuous pushing of technology limits. In Technolution we have found a reliable partner and leader in the field of high-end electronics and data processing. By constantly challenging each other and other partners, in a true innovation ecosystem way, NFI will be able to provide the innovative metrology solutions the semiconductor industry requires for current and next-generation device manufacturing.” comments Hamed Sadeghian, President and Chief Technology Officer of Nearfield Instruments.
Jan van der Wel, Founder and CEO of Technolution commented: “We are proud of being successful in designing and building NFI’s high-speed data acquisition system and the related system control including integrating several subsystems and operating elements needed. We worked closely with NFI to solve the complex electromechanical puzzle of the scanning probes in the core of this semiconductor metrology tool. The innovation of NFI unlocks the great potential of Scanning Probe Microscopy such as in-line wafer metrology during semiconductor production. The potential emphasizes the importance of setting up a partnership for the industrialization and world-wide support of the technology to guarantee the reliability and availability of NFI’s products and services to its customers.”
Nearfield Instruments B.V. (NFI), was founded in January 2016 as a spin-off of TNO. NFI is a semiconductor metrology equipment company developing and delivering ground-breaking process control metrology solutions for the worldwide advanced semiconductor IC manufacturing industry.
QUADRA, the first product of NFI, is a high throughput Scanning Probe Metrology system (HT-SPM) that enables an entirely new approach to in-line 3D process control metrology for both wafer fab Process Window Discovery as well as Process Window Expansion & Control. QUADRA provides unique, angstrom level precise, non-destructive high-aspect ratio 3D metrology on even the most challenging critical layers, such as Gate and FinFET structures.
Technolution is an authority in the field of integration of electronics and software. Under its brand Technolution Advance it creates solutions for high-tech applications for the semiconductor industry and leading scientific institutions. Thanks to the company’s long experience with the design and development of advanced instruments, it has a great deal of in-house knowledge. Technolution Advance’s clients are startups, scale ups, global enterprises and scientific organizations that specialize in semiconductor equipment, optics and imaging, med tech and life sciences, among other fields. Seated in The Netherlands, Technolution also has branches in Denmark, Sweden, England, and the United States of America.
Nearfield Instruments (NFI) and Integrated Dynamics Engineering (IDE), a member of the Aalberts Advanced Mechatronics Group, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a strategic partnership for delivery and value engineering of several critical mechatronics modules for NFI’s semiconductor metrology products, starting with the QUADRA product line.
NFI’s has developed and realized QUADRA based on the revolutionary mechatronics architecture of HT-SPM and is now preparing for series production. NFI intends to work with IDE in a strategic partnership to further industrialize and value engineer some of its product’s modules. IDE will develop, industrialize, and manufacture these modules, with a focus on improving manufacturability, value engineering, and performance enhancement, closely related to NFI’s product roadmap.
“The development of our complex mechatronics system requires a high-tech ecosystem, with unique competencies and extensive knowledge of system development methods, modular system design and production technologies. I am pleased with cooperation between NFI and IDE in the last two years and positive that, by their customer-centric mindset and experienced team of industrialization specialists in the field of dynamics and vibration, this cooperation will lead to a cost-efficient and mass-producible manufacturing of some of the critical mechatronics modules of our metrology systems. This will enable us to deliver solutions with a good total cost of ownership to our customers, with a positive business case as the outcome.” according to Dr. Hamed Sadeghian, President & Chief Technology Officer of Nearfield Instruments.
“Taking new and innovative technologies to market can be quite challenging. Early engagement and collaboration are the catalyst which enables strong, long lasting partnerships and solutions for guaranteed success. Since the beginning of this project with NFI, our two companies have been working in lock step through the development and implementation phases to ensure an optimal operating environment through dynamic and other mechatronic modules. At IDE we are committed to customer satisfaction and we believe that our customer’s success is our success.” said Thomas Breser, Managing Director IDE Group.
Nearfield Instruments (NFI) is pleased to announce that it has appointed Jos Maas as CEO. Maas brings with him more than 20 years of experience growing and scaling high-tech business. Most recently, he served as General Manager for the desktop Scanning Electron Microscopy portfolio of Thermo Fisher Scientific. He also has significant experience in the semiconductor industry, where he spent 13 years at ASML in various functions.
“I am grateful to get the opportunity to join Nearfield Instruments and would like to thank Hamed Sadeghian and Roland van Vliet for their trust. The potential of Nearfield’s technology is enormous, and I look forward to help scaling the company in the coming years”, comments Maas.
Roland van Vliet is appointed as COO and will direct his full attention to the operational aspects of the growth and transformation NFI is undergoing.
To emphasize NFI’s continued pursuit of product leadership, Hamed Sadeghian, CTO, is appointed as company president and will continue to drive and establish Nearfield Instruments as the metrology innovation leader.
Van Vliet and Sadeghian add: “As co-founders we are very happy that Jos Maas will strengthen our company. With his vast experience, he will help grow Nearfield Instruments in the years to come.”
Nearfield Instruments is proud to announce that it has been selected as one of Europe’s 40 top high-tech start-ups to pitch at the High Tech Venture Days (HTVD) 2020. HTVD is one of Europe’s leading meeting places for tech companies, international investors and corporates. The two-day conference will take place on October 13-14 in Dresden, Germany.
Dr. Hamed Sadeghian, Managing Director & CTO, will represent Nearfield Instruments by pitching and joining the networking discussions. Here he will take his conversation partners on the journey of Nearfield Instruments, the highly innovative developer and supplier of game-changing metrology solutions for the semiconductor manufacturing industry.
To achieve new functionalities and to make optimum use of the available wafer space semiconductor devices will shrink to atomic scale dimensions using novel, sensitive materials while at the same time being designed in full three-dimensional configurations including high aspect ratio processes and sub-surface 3D features. With its Automated High-Throughput 3D Scanning Probe Metrology products, Nearfield Instruments enables on-device, non-destructive measurements for in-line process monitoring at industry-best measurement precision and reproducibility aimed at current and next-generation semiconductor device manufacturing.
We look forward meeting you at HTVD2020 and show you how Nearfield Instruments develops and offers daringly innovative solutions to process control challenges in the premium nano-electronics industry in a technologically and economically viable way.
We are proud to announce Nearfield Instruments (NFI) has officially opened a new office location at the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven on 1st September 2020. At this new location NFI will focus on the expertise area of mechatronics systems design and control for its current and new products.
Dr. Hamed Sadeghian, Managing Director of Nearfield Instruments comments: “The core of our products is based on state-of-the-art mechatronics combined with advanced control in both hardware and software. This will be the focus of our new location at HTC Eindhoven: continuous improvement on wafer throughput in combination with a significant increase in positioning accuracy. Together this makes for a serious productivity booster for our customers.
Moreover, being present at HTC Eindhoven, will allow, on one hand, to be closer to Innovation Industries, one of our investors, whom we value for their hands-on guidance and support in optimizing our scaling up, and on the other hand to further strengthen our collaboration with our Eindhoven-based suppliers that focus on development and manufacturing of mechatronics modules.”
According to Roland van Vliet, Managing Director of Nearfield Instruments, “HTC Eindhoven is the heart of Brainport Eindhoven, known for its high concentration of high tech and knowledge-intensive industry. As NFI continuously strives to develop and offer daringly innovative solutions to process control challenges in the premium nano-electronics industry, expanding our activities to HTC Eindhoven is the logical step to further accelerate the growth of Nearfield Instruments”.
NFI’s Rotterdam location, which includes offices, laboratory, and ISO Class 5 cleanroom facilities, will remain NFI’s headquarters and main product development and manufacturing site
SEMI, a MADEin4 consortium member, has recently interviewed Excillum CEO Björn Hansson, COO David Lindblom, and Research Project Manager Simona Laza as well as Nearfield Instruments Managing Director and CEO/COO Roland van Vliet about the importance and impact of EU-funded projects on the innovation capacity of European SMEs.
Read all about the collaboration on NOMI (Nano Opto-Mechatronics Instruments) in an article on the website of Eindhoven University of Technology. Two key players, Professor Henk Nijmeijer and Dr. Hamed Sadeghian, reflect on the journey so far.